Aarushi murder: Talwars get SC reprieve

Aarushi murder: Talwars get SC reprieve

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, facing charges of murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008, got a reprieve on Saturday as the Supreme Court stayed the proceedings against them in a trial court in connection with the case.

A bench of justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar, which conducted the hearing at 7 pm in the apex court on a holiday, however, asked the Talwars to surrender their passports before the trial court by Monday.

Aarushi murder: Talwars get SC reprieve

No counsel for CBI was present at the hearing which lasted for less than 15 minutes. The bench listed the matter for further hearing "as per the date notified." Though Rajesh was not present Nupur was with some close relatives and a battery of lawyers.

The apex court granted relief to the Talwars after senior counsel Pinaki Mishra and Sandeep Kapur, appearing for the couple, termed the trial court's orders as being "erroneous without any basis" and submitted that Nupur who was never interrogated by the investigation agency till date and yet had been made an accused.

The couple had challenged the Special CBI Judge's orders summoning them as accused and issuing bailable warrants in the sensational double murder.

Aarushi murder: Talwars get SC reprieve

"The appeal had been filed on Saturday in the Supreme Court seeking stay of the proceedings," said Satish Tamta, counsel for the Talwar couple.

The Allahabad High Court had on Friday dismissed their plea seeking quashing of the proceedings initiated by the lower court which not only refused the closure report of the CBI, but also summoned them as accused in the case.

The High Court had said that it cannot prohibit the magistrate from taking cognisance of a case if it appears prima facie that there is sufficient evidence against a person.

Justice Balakrishna Narayana of the Allahabad High Court had dismissed the criminal revision petition of Nupur against the CBI court proceedings, saying the petition has "failed to provide any valid reason warranting the court's intervention at this stage".

Aarushi murder: Talwars get SC reprieve

The High Court asked Nupur, who had submitted that she had been summoned despite never having been called for interrogation or having been named as an accused in the CBI's closure report, to appear before the trial court within two weeks.

Another petition filed by Talwar challenging bailable warrants issued by the Ghaziabad court on February 28 was dismissed by Justice Ravindra Singh.

On February 9, the Ghaziabad court had issued bailable warrants against the couple for their failure to appear before the court, and to initiate proceedings against them after it had named them accused while rejecting the closure report of the CBI, which was treated as the chargesheet.

The two are expected to appear before the CBI court on Wednesday when the case has been posted for hearing. Aarushi was found murdered at her residence in Noida in May 16, 2008 and Hemraj's body was recovered the following day from the same building.